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NEW MBA IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP In February, St. Edward’s University announced a new daytime MBA in entrepreneurship featuring a nationally recognized curriculum. The intensive, two-semester program was designed to deliver the tools, skills and judgment required to run a successful business. Professors in the program are entrepreneur-scholars who have run successful businesses of their own. The program accepts students with a minimum of two years work experience, instead of the usual five, and is substantially less expensive than many nationally known two-year programs. Admittance will be highly competitive to ensure small classes that maximize student-faculty interaction. The curriculum, developed by the nonprofit Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence, was first taught through the University of Texas and earned national acclaim from Business Week, U.S. News and World Report and The Wall Street Journal. It incorporates many of the most successful elements of entrepreneurship programs at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Babson College, UCLA and other top entrepreneurial schools. To build a world-class MBA in entrepreneurship, St. Edward’s is expanding the curriculum from five courses to 12. Courses will use the Harvard-style case method and incorporate servicelearning projects. Guest professors will offer supplemental short courses on topics such as negotiations, private company valuation and sales force management. Ongoing alumni activities will include annual continuing-education opportunities, sporting events and social gatherings with faculty. The program also will provide networking and career advancement assistance. Presently, executives and alumni at more than 60 companies — from corporations and high-tech companies to consulting, investment and private equity firms — have pledged to personally shepherd students from the St. Edward’s program through their company’s recruiting process. The priority application deadline is April 15, 2003. The final application deadline is May 15. Classes begin in September, following a one-week “boot camp” orientation, Aug. 25–29. Visit www.stedwards.edu/mbae or call the Center for Academic Progress at 512-448-8600 for more information about the program.
PRESIDENTIAL DIALOGUES ON ETHICS The Presidential Dialogues on Ethics, created in 2002, bring together a select group of community leaders to inspire meaningful discussion of a variety of issues within the framework of ethical reasoning. The second in this series of intimate community conversations, “Business Ethics and the Bottom Line,” took place Feb. 6. Led by President George E. Martin and moderated by Phillip Thompson, director of the St. Edward’s University Center for Ethics and Leadership, the discussion featured a panel of three Austin business leaders who also are winners of the Austin Samaritan Center’s Ethics in Business Awards (see story, p. 5): J. Britt Kauffman, president and chief executive officer of Hart InterCivic; Chris Jensen, senior director of human resources at Applied Materials in Austin; and Mike Haney, chief executive officer of the Athens Group. The Presidential Dialogues on Ethics are sponsored in part by the St. Edward’s Center for Ethics and Leadership, which coordinates the university’s efforts to provide all students with the tools to think critically and reason ethically.
AMANDA O’CONNOR, ’03
2003 BROTHER LUCIAN BLERSCH SYMPOSIUM
Tom Henricks, a former NASA astronaut who had piloted and commanded the Space Shuttle Columbia, answered questions about the recent disaster and talked about the range of scientific research conducted during space shuttle missions.
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More than 300 people joined scientists from NASA and the National Institutes of Health to discuss the life sciences of the 21st century at the third annual Brother Lucian Blersch Symposium on Feb. 7 in the Robert and Pearle Ragsdale Center. Topics included cancer research, HIV/AIDS, bioterrorism and Spacelab research. The free symposium drew attendees from high schools, colleges and universities around the state, as well as from the St. Edward’s community. Tom Henricks, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and former NASA astronaut who piloted two space shuttle missions and commanded two others, originally planned to discuss “Spacelab: Life Sciences in Microgravity.” Following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, he refocused his remarks on the Columbia disaster and the future of the American space program. Henricks, who became an astronaut in 1986, had piloted and commanded missions on Columbia.
Two presenters talked about the work of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Carole Hielman, director of the division of microbiology and infectious diseases, addressed “Biodefense: The Role and Response of the National Institutes of Health.” Michael Polis, senior investigator in the laboratory of immunoregulation, presented “AIDS at 20: Predictions for the Next 10 Years.” Denise Simmons, an intramural fellow at the National Cancer Institute and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, discussed “Cancer Research: The Nation’s Investment.” The symposium was coordinated by Jean McKemie, Brother Lucian Blersch Professor, and organized by the School of Natural Sciences at St. Edward’s. The professorship and symposium honor the late Brother Lucian Blersch, CSC, who was professor of engineering at St. Edward’s from 1938 until his retirement in 1971.